Golden
by pllaec
Summary: She's the quirky 20-something living with her best-friend. He's the sexy intellectual with his life together. Together, they're golden. Rated T for language.


**A/N: Hey Guys! This is my first time writing PLL Fan Fiction so please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing ;) this story takes place outside the "PLL Universe" so anything that happened in the show with "A" or the liars never occurred. This story is mostly about Ezria with some Spoby as well but I'm willing to add other couples if requested :) so without further ado here's Chapter 1!**

Chapter 1: Great Expectations

"God, Aria, it's a first date not your wedding day. You look perfect!"

"How would you know? I've been in the bathroom since I got home from work." I shout through the door as I put the finishing touches on my makeup.

"He's gonna be here soon! Come out and let me see what you're wearing." Spencer Hastings, my best friend and roommate yells back. I slowly open the door and reveal my outfit, doing a little spin as I walk into the living room where Spencer and her boyfriend, Toby, are watching TV.

"Looking good Aria!" Toby says before taking a swig of his Miller-Lite.

"That's seriously hot," Spencer tells me, "but I thought I told you to wear that push-up bra…" I roll my eyes in her direction and walk into my bedroom, examining myself in the full-length mirror. My high-waisted mini skirt and black leather jacket look pretty nice, but Spencer's right: I need the push-up bra. I grab the bra from off my bed but before I can put it on the doorbell rings.

"Shit!" I swear under my breath, grabbing my purse and running into the foyer to meet my date. I open the door slowly, my heart pounding.

"Aria, right?" My date says, flashing a brilliant smile. He's…old! Not in a creepy grandpa sort of way but in a sexy, mature way. I make a mental note to ask his age.

"You betcha!" I reply, internally cringing at myself, "and you must be Ezra. Spencer told me all about you."

"All good things I hope!" He replies, laughing. I can't help but swoon at his adorable dimples.

"Do you want to come in?" I ask, suddenly remembering my manners. He shakes his head.

"I made our reservations for 6, so we better head out," he says, gesturing for me to follow him outside. We walk silently to his car, a sleek black Chevy Camaro.

"Nice ride."

"Thank you. It was a gift from my parents, actually."

"That's a pretty nice gift," I say. _His family must be loaded!_ I think.

"That's my parents for you," Ezra says, looking uncomfortable. We get in his car and head to the Italian place he's taking me, _La Piccola Italia_. When we arrive, I discover he's arranged for us to sit in a secluded booth in the back of the restaurant.

"So you work at Rosewood High with Spencer, right?" I ask him.

"Yep, I teach AP English."

"No kidding!" I say, surprised, "that was my favorite class when I went to Rosewood."

"Seriously? That's a first. Most people say they hated AP English," he tells me, taken aback.

"No, no, I loved it," I say enthusiastically. "It introduced to me to my favorite book, Gr-"

"Great Expectations," he finishes.

"Exactly," I say smiling. Before I knew it, we were talking frantically about plot lines and theme. I hardly took a bite of my food because I was so enthralled with our conversation. It was like I could really be myself around him, something I couldn't say about my past boyfriends. When we finally left the restaurant, we were the last people there.

When we pulled up to my apartment building, we were still giddily discussing literature.

"So here we are…" He says, awkwardly.

"Um, walk me to my apartment?" I ask with a cheeky smile. I hope he doesn't think I'm coming on too strong.

"Of course." He replies, opening my car door for me. As we start up the stairs to the third floor of my building, our hands intertwine. I feel electricity course through my veins and I can tell he feels it too. I look up at him and we share a smile.

As we approach my apartment, I feel a lump grow in my throat. This has always been my least favorite part of first date's. If the date goes well, you usually expect a kiss on the cheek, but if it was a dud then usually just a hug. The problem is knowing whether the guy agrees with which one. In worst-case-scenarios, you can end up with an awkward half-kiss-half-hug situation. On this particular occasion, I'm expecting a kiss on the cheek, but does Ezra feel that the date went as well as I thought it did?

As I dig around in my purse for my house key, Ezra turns to face me.

"I had a really great time tonight," he tells me.

"Me too, I've never really connected like this before on a first date."

"I feel the same way," he says, giving me a sheepish grin. He leans in slowly and gives me a delicate kiss on the cheek. I smile broadly.

"You should call me, I'd love to see you again," I tell him, and we say our goodbyes. As he walks back down the corridor my eyes can't help falling on his adorable butt.

I walk into my apartment to find Spencer has been up waiting for me.

"Someone was out late," she says before I can even take off my shoes.

"I can hear the judgement in your voice Spence, we were just talking." I inform her, sipping the wine she poured for me.

"So it went well I assume?"

"Um, more than well. Try perfect!"

"What all did you two talk about?" She asks me.

"Great Expectations, actually."


End file.
